One of the most successful joint ventures in Australian agriculture, the partnership between CSD and CSIRO has resulted in the development of more than 100 new cotton varieties, tailored for conditions Down Under and underpinning the industry’s growing success.

Bugs that survive insecticides grow stronger. And discovering new, effective toxins through genetics is time-consuming – finding the nexus between a particular bug and its poison can take decades. Now, scientists at Massachusetts’ Harvard University are using advanced PACE technology speed up the search for new Bt toxins to kill insecticide-resistant super-bugs.

Multi-award-winning NSW cotton grower Andrew Watson has expanded on his parents' on-farm revegetation efforts to plant beneficial native plants property-wide, working with UNE biodiversity researchers to explore what plantings work best to attract crop-controlling predators and deter crop pests. The result? A dramatic drop in the farm's chemical pesticide use.